Mark of a good manager

Interim manager Mark Venus was man enough to volunteer the admission that he got his Coventry City tactics wrong to start with, conceding that his attacking 4-2-4 variation was to blame for an abject first half performance. But while the Sky Blues were getting overrun in midfield in an opening 45 minutes in which they were a Lee Burge palm and Jordan Willis boot away from being a goal down, the players themselves were surely to blame for much of a lamentable showing before the break. That was due in no small part to their inability to string more than two passes together and a sudden penchant to handing possession to the opposition. The mark of a good manager, of course, is to recognise what’s going wrong and rectify it, which is exactly what happened with an interval rollicking and a vastly improved second half.

Jordan Willis and Lee Burge

Setpiece first

The Sky Blues finally broke the deadlock from a rare goal from a setpiece – so rare, in fact, that Jordan Willis’s opener was, remarkably, the first time City have scored from a corner all season. That’s clearly not good enough but it’s a start, and something which the players and manager have been working hard in training to address given that the vast majority of goals in such a physical league are scored from dead ball deliveries. It was also the skipper’s first league goal for his home-town club and came as a direct result of Andy Rose’s instant impact as a second half substitute – the midfielder forcing the keeper to save his header from Gael Bigirimana’s flag kick before the centre-half thumped home from ten yards.

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Rose Royce

Rose is a class act who underlined the importance of his comeback from long-term injury with his second goal in as many games. The 26-year-old – who started on the bench due to still feeling the effects of a thigh strain from the Walsall game – made his presence felt from the minute he entered the pitch just after the hour and took his goal with an instinctive first time finish to secure the victory that was far from safe ten minutes from time. The Australian-born box-to-box player with a superb engine is an astute finisher and will, no doubt, be encouraged to get into the area as much as he possibly can from here on in.

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Good Evans, that was close

With Chesterfield on a dismal six-game losing streak and not having scored in their previous five League One outings going into the game, this encounter had banana skin written all over it. And when the Spireites started out on the front foot – aided by City’s poor first half showing and a lively Ched Evans – it looked like an upset might be on the cards. Thankfully, however, the Sky Blues found their rhythm to extend their impressive unbeaten Ricoh run to 11 games this season and take maximum points from their game in hand that, crucially, put three points between them and the bottom four. And while many will still be looking over City’s shoulder they are, incredibly, just five points off the play-off places. Evans is clearly still Championship class and you can’t help thinking that with a player of that quality in the side, Coventry would be a real force at this level.

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Counting the cost

City’s fourth victory in six League One games under Mark Venus came at a cost after Lewis Page was sent off for a second bookable offence in stoppage time and Gael Bigirimana picked up his fifth yellow card of the season. Both will serve a one-match suspension in the next game but fortunately that fixture is Sunday’s trek to League Two Morecambe in the first round of the FA Cup. While Venus will, no doubt, be keen for his improving side to progress in the competition, his and City’s priority remains the league campaign, for which the pair will be available for duty when they take on league leaders Scunthorpe at Fortress Ricoh a week on Saturday.